Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has said that Developing Eight (D-8) Organization of Economic Cooperation has the potential to become an economic and trade bloc; however, contrarily, it has not developed into a formidable regional alliance. He has called for the implementation of D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) 2006 for tangible gains. It has been implemented in 2016; but, it has yet to unleash the true potential, he added.

FPCCI Chief noted that it is pertinent to realize that D-8 countries include both large countries by population and large economies by the size of their GDPs. D-8 alliance includes Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Nigeria; and, their collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP) adds up to $4 trillion. Nevertheless, their intra D-8 trade stands at merely 4.5 percent of their total trade; which is grossly insufficient & inexcusable. He maintained that intraregional trade among economic blocs of the world go as high as 70 – 75 percent.

Sheikh Fazle Fahim, President of D-8, said that the objectives of the organization are to improve developing countries’ positions in the world economy; diversify & create new opportunities in trade relations; enhance participation in decision-making at the international level and provide better standard of living to their people.

Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh apprised that the real achievable trade potential between D-8 countries is up to $500 billion; and, if achieved, it can usher in a new era of economic & social development; regional & sub-regional cooperation; major boost to the competitively-priced & reliable imports of food products for the member countries; intra D-8 investments & joint ventures and poverty reduction through employment generation.

FPCCI Chief added that Pakistan will actively participate in the upcoming D-8 Summit from July 25 – July 27, 2022; where heads of the states; foreign ministers and chamber of commerce presidents are expected to participate.